Elevated Anti-TPO antibodies 141 (<34)

[Angelaska]

Hi I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism and I had a blood test to check my antibodies. They came back with my Anti-TPO antibodies at 141 (<34) and I have had a lot of symptoms which I am not sure are down to the elevation in antibodies or not. I was on Levothyroxine but since my Free T3 and Free T4 were both high and out of range I was advised to skip a few days' doses. Whenever I go to my doctor about my symptoms they always say the symptoms I experience are normal and that they are not things that need urgent attention. They also say they do not treat patients based on how they feel and I have felt horrendous from this afternoon. I was advised by my endocrinologist to go gluten-free for a few weeks, which I did and did so very strictly and my antibodies dropped but now they have risen again and I don't know why.

Any help on the above would be great. :)

[Red_Star]

Yeah I figured that is what you had. Gluten intolerance!  Thankfully I can eat cheese due to hardly any lactose in it. I adore cheese. Gluten intolerance sounds far worse. There are so many non food products containing gluten too.  Well those labs show you are taking too much which matches the sweating, weight loss etc.

When I started thyroid medication I had untreated adrenal fatigue. I had to start medication straight away due to severe bradypnea so I knew I had to ride out the symptoms of untreated adrenals but I had no idea just how bad it was going to be!

If I was conscious from my drugged like coma, I could barely move or speak (able to slur out a few words at best), plus other symptoms such as numbness and dizziness. I posted the adrenal home tests on another answer if you are interested...

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Adrenal-Insufficiency/ACTH-Stimulation-Test/show/1742344

[Angelaska]

Thanks for directing me to the what chicks talk about page. Yes, those pictures are what I have!

It's weird about body temperature being low but with over medicated symptoms. I'm not sure if my thyroid hormones levels are relevant but here they are:

Free T3 6.9 range between 4.1 and. 6.7
Free T4 25.1 range between 12 and 22.
TSH 0.36 range between 0.2 and 4.2.

Unless I'm either in between hypo and hyper phases, which is probably far fetched, coming from me and I ought to know if I take the stuff to fix it LOL, or there is an underlying adrenal issue at work.

[Red_Star]

By fingertips I mean the fingerpads. There are pictures if you want to check out the blog: what chicks talk about - wrinkly fingers show gluten intolerance.

My heart rate is high 90's/100 + range when I overmedicate and my temp is over 37C as well. Prior to starting medication my temp was around 35C. Not sure of heart rate at the time. I can't feel my heart rate anyway until it's like 250bpm. That's weird lol.

Sounds like you are overmedicating but the body temp doesn't match it though. That's weird too. :)

[Angelaska]

Hi there,  I have vertical wrinkles on the undersides of my fingertips. You know like how your fingertips get after coming out of a bath, shower or swimming pool? They look like that, a bit prune like. That might not be the same thing though. The doctors have told me my digestive symptoms are not related to gluten sensitivity but I am sure that they are:

- Bowel movement 10-20 minutes after eating a biscuit/chocolate, coming out as rabbit pellets
- Bowel movement 30-40 minutes after eating bread, coming out as rabbit pellets.
- Gas or bloating after eating pasta
- Fatigue after eating pasta

Symptoms I currently experience at the moment are:

- Sweating, so much so that the bed sheets stick to my skin
- Anxious,  keyed up
- Weight loss, very dramatic in which my bones are now showing through my skin
- Headaches
- Difficulty swallowing with some choking fits, ultrasound normal
- Front of neck swollen a little
- Eye pain
- Nausea, so bad that it has made me want to vomit
- Racing heart, has sometimes doubled from 41-63 to 71-87.
- Body temperature has been 35.9 degrees to m36.2 degrees

I was advised to reduce the levothyroxine from 125mcg to 112.5mcg and skip a few days' doses. I did accidentally take a full 125mcg dose of levothyroxine and then 25mcg of cytomel on one of the days I should have skipped doses, however.

I did buy a book online, it's called Why Do I Still Have Low Thyroid Symptoms When My Labs Are Normal by Datis Kharrazian. It's quite informative although doesn't touch on other things that concern me.

I bought a saliva test kit online as advised by some of my thyroid friends. I have already done 2 samples and will be doing the next one but the 2nd one I did is a murky yellow colour. I know my mouth has been dry and I'm wondering if it's blood and that the lab won't accept the sample. :(

[Angelaska]

Thanks. Wow, long answer!

I don't know what products I own contain gluten. I know what foods contain gluten and I've been ruthless in throwing chocolate, biscuits, bread away.

I have done only 2 readings for a metabolic chart, it's not suggested by Dr Barnes. My temperature yesterday was 36.2 degrees and my temperature today is 35.9 degrees. Do I need to do it for longer than a few days?

I don't wear cosmetics every day and as for the shampoo (I don't use conditioner as it weighs my hair down) it contains these:

Aqua, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, cocamide MEA, Dimethiconol, TEA-dodecylbezenesulfate, glycol distearate, trimethylsilylamodimethicone, laureth-7, laureth-5, parfum, sodium chloride,  guarhydroxypropyltrimonium, chloride, carbomer, formaldehyde, lawsonia inermis leaf extract, disodium EDTA, herbal protein ester, sodium hydroxide, ricinus communis, castor seed oil, citric acid.

Shower gel contains:

Aqua, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, PEG-7 Glycerol cocoate, glycerin, glyceryl glucoside, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder, sodium chloride, polyquarternium-7, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, styrene, acrylates copolymer, citric acid, PEG-200, hydrogenated glyceryl stearate SE, sodium benzoate, benzyl alcohol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, coumarin, parfum.

Toothpaste contains:

Sodium fluoride

Mouthwash contains:

Aqua, paraffinum liquidum, sotbitol, sodium saccharin, mentha arvensis, sodium phosphate, cetylpyridinium chloride, limonene, sodium fluoride, triclosan, CI 42090, CI 17200, CI 61565, sodium fluoride.

Out of all these I thought the shampoo was pretty safe to use as it says on the container that all ingredients in it are natural extracts.

I don't know about anything else but if anything else comes to mind I'll post them.

[Red_Star]

People go to the doctors for symptoms. To say they aren't going to treat you based on symptoms? Really? O_o lol.

Of interest, I've read the fingertips have vertical wrinkles if you are gluten intolerant. My fingertips are smooth but I already know I have no issues with gluten. I do have lactose intolerance though.

TPOAb may lower with selenium (many studies show this) and I noted some improvement myself eating brazil nuts. After starting exercise I've noted I get hyperthyroid more often (although that took a few months of exercise to see that happen) and that looks to be due to increased endophin levels (boss of the immune system) improving Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

When I had severely depleted stomach acid (due to overmedicating for a year - long story there) and that was surely putting a lot of stress on the immune system from poor absorption to overworking the organs. When I tested my TPOAb levels again they had skyrocketed from 510 to 1900. Be nice to your immune system! :)

I'm currently reading a book called The Hypothyroid Diet by Kevin Dobrzynski.  Here is a small section of the introduction...

"You're already aware that you have hypothyroidism; you're familiar with the symptoms, and you may even know how your thyroid works.

What you may not know is how diet plays a crucial role in feeling better and losing weight with hypothyroidism.

Hopefully, your doctor has done a good job at diagnosing and medicating your condition. This will keep your blood test results within the normal range of someone with no thyroid problems.

However, there's a good chance you may still be dealing with symptoms from this condition.

This is because a majority of hypothyroid patients have Hashimoto's thyroiditis - which is an autoimmune disorder.

The problem is not that your thyroid is broken, but that your immune system is not functioning correctly and it's inadvertently attacking your thyroid.

In order for you to start feeling better and losing weight, you must support your immune system. If you do this, your immune system and metabolism will function at a much higher level.

Immune system support means removing toxins from the body, eliminating food allergies/sensitivities, decreasing stress, and giving your body the necessary nutrients to support your thyroid and speed up metabolism.

Most people eat to the detriment of their health and slow their metabolism through poor food choices, which also downgrades the immune system.

Substances like alcohol, sugar, caffeine, refined grains, fruit juices, sodas, processed foods, fast foods, and nicotine all place excessive internal stress on all systems of the body, including the immune system."